ROMANIAN LICENSE PLATES —HISTORY & CURRENT MODELS

1900s - 1908
Plates were first issued at the beginning of the twentieth century. The plates took
the simple form of white numbers on a black background, and were home made.
The numbers belonging to the owner - not to the vehicle, the list of owners and
their numbers were published monthly in the “Automobil” magazine, edited by the
Romanian Royal Automobile Club. As there were so few cars (a total of 139 in
1908), it was not necessary to differentiate the region or city on the plates. Regis-
tration was done centrally by the Mayor of Bucharest. Interestingly, the first num-
ber registered was “0”, and it was issued to the Prince Bibescu, president of the
Romanian Royal Automobile Club (ACR). Official entities, as well as private indi-
viduals, could have own their numbers (swap it from one vehicle to another). Al-
so, some parts of the territory of Romania were under administration/influence of
neighboring countries, so you may see license plates that would follow foreign
models. For example, Transylvania Region was part of the Austro-Hungarian Em-
pire from 1868 up to 1918, so vehicle from this area would either use Austrian
letter “Z” plates (for other regions) or Hungarian letter “O” (Kolozsvár/Cluj),
“R” (Brasso/Brasov) or “T” (Temesvár/Timişoara) plates

1908 - 1966

In 1908, a letter to the Mayor of Bucharest addressed the need for a more stand-
ardized system with a regional mark to appear on the license plate. This was ap-
proved in September or October and the new license plates appeared within one
month. In Bucharest and most of other counties, the standard plate was com-
posed of several numbers, followed by a hyphen and the regional abbreviation.
Bucharest, for example, was “B” (before 1914 it was used “Bc”, but changed later
in order to avoid confusion with the County of Bacau), while Craiova was “Cv”. In
some districts, however, the county code did not come after the numbers until the
1920s. Photos of the time shown, for example, the city of Lugoj with the abbrevia-
tion “Lgs”, vehicles with license plates with both combinations: letters before and
after the numbers, depending on whether the owner had changed the license
plates to adjust to the new regulations. Official cars Royal House generally had a
crown displayed on the plate instead of any other combination of numbers/letters.

This system was in place until 1966, when a new Traffic Code was passed and
enforced since the volume of vehicles had increased drastically. However, the
frequent territorial and administrative changes of the period meant that the letter
codes changed also often. For example, after 1960 a car registered in Craiova
as 150-Cv would have changed its license plate to 150-OL, corresponding to the
new administrative region Oltenia. Similarly, when the city of Brasov changed its
name in 1950 to “Orasul Stalin” (after the Soviet dictator) , the regional code was
also changed to “O.S.”; later, in 1960, the city changed the name back to Brasov,
hence the license plates letters to “Bv”. By the end of 60s all city/region callsign
were two capitalized letters (except Bucharest, that keep its tradition of one letter
“B”).

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ROMANIAN LICENSE PLATES —HISTORY & CURRENT MODELS

Specialty numbers were used occasionally to denote the type of vehicles. For a
period of time, during the 1930s, in Bucharest, numbers from 10,000-B to 12,999-
B (the comma was used as thousands separator) were issued for TAXI service;
some had the letters “Tx” as an additional tag, as did buses, which started with
15,000-B. In the 1950s, small commercial vehicles were given numbers over
25,000, large commercial vehicles and buses numbers over 50,000, tractors over
65,000 and motorcycles over 75,000. By 1966, when the new system was en-
forced, in Bucharest, cars had reached over 23,000 and motorcycles over 90,000.
Although in the antebellum period “1” was the smallest number possible (“0” in
Bucharest), under the new system, inspired by the USSR model (01-01), num-
bers started with “101”. Also license plates beginning with “W” were issued for
dealers or repair shops. Also, following the Russian model, the registration num-
bers were painted on the body of the vehicle

During WW II, Romanian took control of a territory that is today within

Republic of Moldova (Transnistria) and Ukraine (Odessa Region), hence
organized a regional administration that issued license plates with the
format Tr - number – Ods

“ROCOP” - ROMANIAN COLLECTORS of POLICE ASSOC.

ROMANIAN LICENSE PLATES —HISTORY & CURRENT MODELS

1966—1992
In 1966 the whole system was changed due to the new Traffic Law; the new
plates were initially issued in the format: two numbers (prefix), followed by two
letters (region/county) and numbers (suffix up to 5 digits):

The two numbers prefix was regulated as follows:

 1 to 19 - light vehicles

 20 - reserved for light vehicles, but never used

 21 to 30 - freight transport vehicles, including lorry tractor units; also buses, if

modified for freight transport

 31 to 40 - buses, coaches and utility vehicles

 41 to 45 - road tractors

 46 to 50 - motorcycles. (front plates for motorcycles were initially allowed, but

since they acted as “sharp objects” during accidents, they were banned)

The letters denoted the administrative regions until 1968, and after that, county
abbreviation. Following the 1968 reorganization of Romania's counties, new
codes were introduced, some quite different from the old region abbreviation.
These represented generally the same counties as the ones used today, with
slight differences. However, between 1966 and 1968, some old codes were used.
Thus, a registration plate for Ploiesti region would be 1-PL-1234, which would
have changed after 1968 to 1-PH-1234 (County of Prahova). Many codes, how-
ever, did not need to change; Bucharest (B), Cluj (CJ) and Sibiu (SB), for exam-
ple, remained the same. The suffix numbers were in groups of either three, four
or five digits, and were issued in ascending order, starting from 101. The old
plates were declared invalid. The plates with 5 digits after the county code were
issued only in Bucharest due to the large number of vehicles to be registered. It
started with 1-B-10000 to 1-B-99999, then 2-B-10000 to 59999, until the change
of the system. 9-B-10000 to 9-B-39999 were issued, between the early 1980s
and 1992, for Ilfov (or the Ilfov Agricultural Sector). Up until the 1980s Ilfov plates
were registered IF, an abbreviation which would return in 2005.

Regarding two or three wheel vehicles, there was a difference regarding the
horse power capacity of the motor; below 50 CC, called “motorete” (in daily
terms, cyclomotors/scooters) the plates had white background with black county
code above one numeral, a hyphen and three / four more numerals, but the front
plates commonly had the county code as a suffix. For more then 50 CC, called
motociclete (motorcycle) received regular plates, as any car, but starting with 46
(see the explanation before)

The official vehicles used by Militia (Police) were identified by additional plates
(usually the same size as a license plate) with the words Controlul Circulatiei
(Traffic Inspection) attached either to the front bumper or to the front part of the
vehicle.

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ROMANIAN LICENSE PLATES —HISTORY & CURRENT MODELS

An interesting development was the unofficial connection between the license plate
and the social status of the car owner. For example, the "important" owners/users
of the vehicles (i.e. those belonging to the upper level of the Communist Party, dig-
nitaries, high ranking officials of the Army or the Ministry of Interior etc.) generally
used 1, then the county, then only three digits. For instance, the Nicolae Ceauşes-
cu dictators’s favorite off-road vehicle, made by ARO company, was issued later
with the license plate "1-B-111", althought the same plate can been seen over the
time issued on other vehicles. By the mid-1970s, any plate with three digits was
considered to be issued to an important individual or with connections to the upper
level of the political regime (regardless of the number at the front), and although
older cars had been initially issued with three-digit combinations, many owners
were "asked" by the authorities to change their numbers. In an age where most
people had the same car - Dacia (a licensed copy of the Renault 12) - such distin-
guishing features were considered important. By the 1980s, in Bucharest 1-B with
3 or 4 digits and 2-B and 3-B with three digits were also considered to be issued to
VIPs. Furthermore, the legend around the three-digit formula developed even
more, to the theory that if the middle number was the sum of the other two num-
bers, the owner was “connected” directly to the dictator’s entourage. Thus, many
senior Communist leaders had numbers such as 1-B-363, ex: the Neamt Coun-
ty communist party secretary (similar to the rank of “Delegate of the Government”
in a county) had 1-NT-165 on his official vehicle, a black Volga.

Foreign citizens and organizations (travel agencies, religious organizations etc.),

other than diplomatic/consular, with residence in Romania, were issued plates
starting with 12. (white background for private citizens and black background for
organizations). When it came to private foreign citizens issued with “12-B” license
plate, the majority were students from Arab or African countries. 14-B was used for
rental cars, but since 1990 some official cars had such number plates too.

License plates on yellow background were state property, but since all trucks, bus-
es and other heavy vehicles were state property, those with yellow background
plates belonged to ministries or other special state organizations. Temporary plates
had the county code and then a number beginning with 0; test drive plates had a
number beginning with 0 and then the county letters.

In late 1970’s the manufacture of plates was standardized and they were all made
on a rectangle pressed tin plate; previously plates had been of plastic, of cast iron,
of enamel, of porcelain or even of plaster. The only plates that were made of cast
iron were the oval diplomatic/consular plates. In around 1982, after 19-B-9999 had
been reached, it was decided to begin the series 1-B with five digits. In 1983, after
a brief reorganization of the counties, IF (Ilfov County) was dropped, CL (Călăraşi
County) and GR (Giurgiu County) were introduced, and the Bucharest Agricultural
Sector (Sectorul Agricol Ilfov) issued plates beginning with 9-B and followed by five
digits. The fonts used on the number plates changed slightly in 1988.

“ROCOP” - ROMANIAN COLLECTORS of POLICE ASSOC.

ROMANIAN LICENSE PLATES —HISTORY & CURRENT MODELS

1992 - current
The vehicle registration system was changed in 1992, when new reflective plates
were introduced, with the numbering system still in use today. For a brief while,
plates were still issued under the old system, until the end of May 1993, when all
county received the proper technology in order to issue the new styles. One of
the reasons was to comply with the European standards and to make Romanian
cars safer when being driven abroad (ex. the new plates were reflective).
Since, there were two basic models issued in Romania:
 non EU plates—the license plates will bear a blue stripe (Euroband) on the
left side with the flag of Romania and the letters RO (1992—2007)
 EU plates—the license plates will bear a blue stripe (Euroband) on the left
side with the flag of European Union and the letters RO
This standard with blue stripe applies to all license plates (regular, Army, diplo-
matic, Ministry of Interior etc.) issued by the central administration, except the
plates issued by local authorities (yellow, red or white background)
The current plates standard is made of one letter prefix (the abbreviation of the
county), followed by 2 (exempt Bucharest, that can have up to 3 numbers since
2010; randomly or they can be personalized by the owner) and 3 letters
(randomly or they can be personalized by the owner); however, the letters “O”
and “I” can’t be issued as the first one after the numbers (ex: B-01-OML or B-01-
IML) and certain combinations of letters, considered offensive, were banned also
(ex: FUK, SEX). Also, certain combinations of letters were issued unofficially to
certain public entities (ex: DEP and SEN to the Parliament of Romania, POL to
marked police vehicles), but private vehicles have been seen with these letters,
following the communist era legend of “special plates”, hopping they will not be
sanctioned by the Traffic Police.
The temporary plates are following the same format, except the color of the let-
ters, which are red:
 Dealer-ship plates, will bear the word PROBE on them and they are com-
posed of the county letters plus 3 up to 5 numbers
 30 days valid numbers can be issued in order to export the vehicle or to com-
plete the permanent registration procedures

Also, for a while, leasing/renting plates were issued for vehicles acquired in such
manner; they were considered as “temporary plates” since they had an expiration
date, which was also printed on the right side of the plate; the prefix letter was
representing the county where the leasing/renting company resided, followed by
6 digits

The front plate usually carries a round label displaying the validity of the tech-
nical inspection of the vehicle. They have different background colors de-
pending on the year displayed. Currently there are in use 3 sizes of plates:
type A (normal plates), type B (square) and type C (motorcycle, ATV etc.)

“ROCOP” - ROMANIAN COLLECTORS of POLICE ASSOC.

ROMANIAN LICENSE PLATES —HISTORY & CURRENT MODELS

Military license plates

The military license plates before 1945 had white background and a number beginning with a zero. In front of
the number was the initial of the Ministry of Defense - State Undersecretaries:

 U for the Ground Forces (U for Uscat, Land)

 A for the Air Force (A for Aer, Air)

 M for the Navy (M for Marină, Navy)

 I for the Logistics (I for Înzestrare, Logistics).

This system was subsequently abolished and all military vehicles

received plates with the prefix “A” (for Armată, Army) in front of the regis-
tered numbers, which start at 100. This system lasted until 2005 and is still
visible today, when the EU standard plates were introduced, but with the
same configuration. Numbers smaller than 10,000 are generally kept for
light vehicles. However, the Army can have vehicles with regular (civilian)
license plates.

Ministry of Internal Affairs license plates

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) can register its own vehicles in a sepa-
rate data base from the regular license plates, however most the vehicles, based on their purposes, can have
regular and MAI plates. Since this type of license plates were introduced after 2000, both models of plates
can be seen (EU model and non-EU model). These plates are issued for all departments of the Ministry
(Police, Gendarmerie, Fire & Rescue Services, Border Police etc.) Also, in some regions, the regular plates
with the letter POL and MAI were reserved only for official vehicles.

Diplomatic license plates

Until 1956 these were standard plates, with "CD" prefix attached to them. In 1956 oval and square plates
were introduced, oval for CD (Corps Diplomatique) and square for TC (auxiliary staff). CD or TC went
above a three or four digit numbers. In the early years (at least up till 1959), CD plates had the year at
the bottom, in small lettering. After 1992, the CD, CO and TC plates are issued in the same model of
license plates, but in blue lettering. (EU and non EU Euroband have been used)

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ROMANIAN LICENSE PLATES —HISTORY & CURRENT MODELS

Local registration plates

Also known as “the yellow plates” are issued by the local authorities such as municipalities, village or com-
mune mayoralties for the registration of certain light vehicles, or other types of vehicles that do not need
state level authorization, such as public utility vehicles, some light garbage trucks, lawn mowers, small sani-
tation vehicles, trolleybuses, trams, quad bikes, scooters, golf carts and non-
road going vehicles, such as combine harvesters, non-road-going tractors,
horse-drawn carts, etc. The format of the plate is not fully standardized. Most of
the local authorities used the yellow plate, but there are exceptions like Cluj-
Napoca, which used white plate similar to old German plates, but always bear-
ing the letters CJ-N (from the city name's abbreviation), followed by 3 digits.
Other cities or villages use their coat of arms or initials, or even their entire
name, some times followed by the county name or abbreviation. All that is fol-
lowed by a fixed-length number (4 to 6 digits, but same size for the same issu-
ing authority). The first number to be issued is usually 1, zero-padded to the left
if needed. These vehicles cannot leave the jurisdiction of the authority that is-
sued the plate, but it is common to such vehicles (mostly scooters) to travel
within the county limits, or even travel to other counties. Some of these vehicles
bear temporary plates while being towed to their destination, if that means
crossing the limits of the county where they have been initially registered. This
usually happens to trolleybuses on their way from the factory to the transport
company. Dual-powered buses are registered with standard number plates.
Trams may not bear the plate itself, but are required to somehow bear the registration number, either paint-
ed or printed on a sticker, usually next to their fleet number.

Current license plate county abbreviations

Resources:

 www.wikipedia.com

 www.europlate.org

 fiat.3xforum.ro

 volganeagra.blogspot.ro

 Personal collection of Mr. Marius NECULA

 Personal collection of Mr. Viorel BURCEA—member of ROCOP

 Personal collection of Mr. Bogdan Gabriel COCONOIU—president of RETROMOBIL

“ROCOP” - ROMANIAN COLLECTORS of POLICE ASSOC.